In its current 10-year strategic plan, Vision 2029, UAMS aims to “lead Arkansas to be the healthiest state in the region through its synergies of education, clinical care, research and purposeful leadership.” UAMS introduced Vision 2029 in 2019, choosing to culminate the plan on the 150th anniversary of its creation in 1879 as the first medical school in Arkansas.
Strategic planning within health care presents significant challenges, particularly for Academic Medical Centers (AMCs) like UAMS that integrate the tripartite mission of education, research, and clinical care. These institutions often include teaching hospitals, health systems, and research institutes characterized by intricate, matrixed governance structures.
Family Medical Center in El Dorado
Collectively, UAMS strategy stakeholders developed a new vision statement and a Strategy Map guided by Kaplan-Norton’s Balanced Score Card (BSC) philosophy as the heart of Vision 2029. BSCs provide a snapshot of both high- and ground-level strategy on one page, which can be more effective for communicating strategy both within and outside organizations. UAMS has used a cloud-based strategy management platform to track progress on the objectives, measurable targets and initiatives that make up Vision 2029. A process was developed for regular reviews of plan status, including a method for adapting the plan to changing priorities or opportunities. The BSC is updated each fiscal year. While the strategic objectives remain constant from the original plan, some of the targets and underlying initiatives have been changed or updated.
UAMS Vision 2029 FY2025 Balanced Scorecard
Vision 2029 has been recognized by peers and health care leaders, such as Thomas H. Lee, MD, MSc, Editor-in-Chief and Editorial Board Co-Chair, NEJM Catalyst Innovations in Care Delivery; Chief Medical Officer, Press Ganey. Dr. Lee told UAMS leaders the plan was one of the best he had seen for an academic medical center, especially in terms of accountability, tracking its progress and the nimbleness of the plan’s ability to adapt to changing conditions or priorities.
Ribbon cutting at Institute for Community Health Innovation in Springdale
In 2022, the NEJM Catalyst published a manuscript detailing the process UAMS followed to develop, implement and manage Vision 2029. UAMS has subsequently been contacted by other institutions and health care leaders interested in our process and seeking guidance and suggestions on how to follow the UAMS model.
For more information:
UAMS Vision, Mission & Core Values
From Strategic Planning to Strategy Impact. Hadden K., Gardner S., & Patterson, C. New England Journal of Medicine Catalyst. 2022